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A SKETCH 



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GENERAL JACKSON: 



BY HIMSELF. 



CHARLES GAYARRE 



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NEW ORLEANS: 

PKINTKD BY E. C. WIIARTOX, 41 CAM I' STKIOKT. 

18a7. 



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-'V ^^' ••^ 



6021? 



A SKETCH 



OF 



GENERAL JACKSON, 



BY H I BI S E L F. 



The number of years during which this distinguished mcin has been 
slumbering in his grave, is not yet such as to permit a just and proper 
appreciation of his character. The flames of political warfare through 
which he strode so fearlessly when alive, are extinguished, but the ashes 
which they have left are not yet cold; and he who should now endeavor 
to travel over the broad space covered by his illustrious career, with the 
intention of surveying the impress of his footsteps, and of passing judg- 
ment on his deeds, would discover that he is premature in attempting 
an excursion over a ground still heated by passions which, although 
hourly dying away, retain something of their original fierceness; and he 
would soon come to the conclusion that he had better wait until the sub- 
ject of his investigations should refrigerate to the requisite degree of 
temperature — which can only be the work of time. No great actor on 
the human stage can be safely tried before the tribunal of his cotempo- 
raries. They may be allowed to furnish the evidence, on the faith of 
which, when sifted, he is ultimately to be judged, but posterity alone is 
the competent authority to assign him his place in the annals of our 
race, and to awaid to him that reputation which is forever to be his 
glory or his shame. I would, therefore, shrink from giving to the pub- 
lic at this time a portrait of General Jackson, were I capable of draw- 
ing it, but I have thought that I could venture to present a profile view 
of that remarkable man for the use of future historians, and I have 



[2] 

called It "A Sketch of General Jackson by lumself," since the features 
of his moral and intellectual character which it is my intention to put 
together, have been traced by his own hands in a series of Letters with 
which I have lately been entrusted, and which he had addressed to one 
who had been placed under his guardian care, and who has retained for 
his memory the deepest affection and the most enthusiastic admiration. 
In nothing else does man reveal himself more unguardedly, and exhibit 
more clearly his true nature than in his private correspondence with 
those he cherishes and trusts, and with whom he can forget to protect 
his breast v/ith that cloak, and may be with that armour which circum- 
stances may make it necessary for him to use in his daily intercourse 
with the world. These are the reliable means by which many historical 
characters which would have forever remained dark enigmas, or which 
might have been totally misrepresented, have been fully illustrated, to 
the delight and for the instruction of mankind. William, the cham- 
pion of England's liberties, would still have been fur us the same cold- 
blooded, soul-lacking impersonation of stern ambition, if Macaulay had 
not shown, with that great man's correspondence in hand, that he who 
seemed to have no more feeling than the steel cuirass which he wore on 
the battle-field, had within his stubborn heart spots almost as soft and 
sensitive as any to be found in woman's breast. Thus I am led to be- 
lieve that a few extracts from such of General Jackson's letters as I 
have in my possession may exhibit that celebrated personage in a light 
in which many may never have expected to see him. But whatever be 
the result which I may obtain, I am encouraged in the attempt by the 
conviction that I am performing a duty, and that to place even a dimly 
shining lamp in the path of future historical investigation, is not to be 
considered too humble a task to be undertaken by the lover of justice 
and truth. 

I have frequently heard it asserted by some who pretend to know 
General Jackson, that he was narrow minded and liable to take up 
prejudices against men and things. The sentiments which I find ex- 
pressed by him in a letter addressed from the Hermitage on the 8th of 
January, 1821, seem to refute the impeachment: 

"DcarE. — Yours of the 19th ult. has just reached me, wdiich ad- 
'' vises me of your return from Boston to New York, after taking a full 
" recognizance and survey of the harbor of Boston. The experience of 
'' the hospitality of the good people of Boston ought hereafter to jyn vent 
" you from forming prejudices against any nation or people upon ragne 
^'report. Although there are many anecdotes told vjjon the Yankees, 



[3] 

'' yoM XDill find the mople of New England, like all other people, a 
" mixture of good and had, hosjntable and inhospitable, polished and 
'' unpolished ; hxit, as a people, moral and humane. " 

What can be more higli-toned, more noble and more patriotic, than 
the following letter written by one wlio bad been accused of being loose 
in morals, and who had been suspected of favoring the dark schemes of 
Aai'on Burr ? It is addressed to the same young man, his pupil, who 
was then an officer in the United States Army, and who, smarting per- 
haps under some temporary disappointment which checked his aspira- 
tions, and burning with martial desire to add new lustre to an ancestral 
name already celebrated in the annals of war, had consulted General 
Jackson on the propriety of seeking a wider field of action by entering 
the Russian service. Thus wrote in reply the sage and the warrior who 
was then resting in the shades of the Hermitage : 

January 8th, 1822. 

"It has been with the greatest pleasure, my young friend, that I 
" have tendered you that advice and counsel which my experience has 
" enabled me to give, and especially when I have believed that I could 
" contribute to your futiire welfare by impressing upon your mind the 
" importance of morality, and by directing your attention to such ob- 
'' jects as were most likely to eventuate in your permanent interest. I 
" have done so with the greatest cheerfulness and an eye single to your 
" good. I trust, then, that you will view me when opposing your de- 
" termination to join the Russian service and abandon that of your 
" country, as influenced by no sinister motive, but as alive only to those 
*' prospects which may determine your reputation and the character to 
" which you may attain as a soldier and as a citizen. " 

" You say that you have spent the best of your life in a profession 
" which oft'ers no inducements in your own country. Let me ask what 
" is it in the profession of arms in your country that is inconsistent with 
" the character which awaits an officer devoted to its service — prepared 
" by science for distinction in that service, and competent to . . . (illeg- 
" iblej or share in its battles and dangers ? What is it in the character 
" of your country that is unworthy of your efforts to sustain it? What 
" in its national feeling that cannot claim your participation? WHiere 
" is the country, besides your oAvn, whose glory is the protection of lib- 
" erty and those equal rights which have long since been lost in the 
" despotism and corruption of every European government ? Where is 
" that love of country which, living even with the chained and shackled 
" peasantry of a monarch, despises all control ? And would you re- 
" nouuce this sacred tie for the glory to be won in the uncertain career 
" of a foreign emperor? Can you sacrifice the feelings which should 
" characterize an American officer to the illusions which support royalty 
" and conceal its corruption? I hope you could not. There are many 
" objections, Edward, to your adopting the course which you have 



[4]; 

'' named, but which I shall not mention, believing that you willunhesi- 
" tutingly abandon a scheme which you have formed without reflection. 
" It is true that the blind policy of the last Congress has limited the 
'■^ prospects of reputation and distinction in our army, but things will 
" not always be as they are. The policy must change; and, indepeud- 
" ent of this, what greater incentive do you want than the persuasion 
'' that by improving the advantages which, you now possess, you will be 
" prepared to enter with distinction into the service of your country, 
" when it shall need and shall ask for your service and talents. Con- 
*' tinue your studies, and your proficiency shall be rewarded. Be indus- 
" trious and you will not feel the miseries of idleness." 

This last phrase does not savor of the cock-fighting, horse-racing 
idler he was represented to be. But what a lofty spirit breathes through- 
out this whole epistle ! And what is still more remarkable, is the mod- 
eration and the almost apologetic tone with which one who was believed 
to be the very incarnation of haughtiness and despotism, gives his views 
and opinions to one so much his inferior in age and position, and seeks 
to change the hasty resolution of a pupil on whom he had a right to ex- 
ercise the authority of a father. Is that the fierce Jackson who could 
not brook the slightest opposition? 

On the 3d of March, 1823, he wrote to the same individual : 
"I am happy to learn that your health is restored, and that justice 
" has been done you at last by the chief of the Engineer Department. 
" Never make enemies that you can avoid, and never permit injury 
" from any source without a proper resentment. " 

^^ Never make enemies that you can avoid," sounds like the voice of 
wisdom and not like that of one who had the reputation, not only of 
cherishing a reckless indifference to provoking enmities, but even of en- 
tertaining a strange propensity to rush into strifes, as the eagle is said to 
utter its most joyous shriek when the lightning plays round its head and 
the howling wind rocks its nest. 

'' Never permit injury from any source loithout a proper resentment* 
puts one in mind of Polonius' celebrated advice to his son, in Hamlet : 

" Beware 
" Of entering into a quarrel : but. being in, 
" Bear it that the opposcr may beware of thee. " 
This calm recommendation to his pupil is certainly no indication of 
the rash and fiery temper which was attributed to the illustrious chief- 
tain, and for which he incurred so much blame. It is no sudden, im- 
petuous outburst, but it seems to be a cool and practical appreciation of 
the course which, in this world, socially organized as it is at present, a 
man ia frequently compelled to pursue in self-defence, and as a matter of 



[5] 

policy, even when inclination would lead to a different path. "When 
struck on the right cheek, to turn the left to the aggressor in invitation 
of another blow, may be the very perfection of human and christian ex- 
cellence, but it is doubtful whether in the general disregard of evangeli- 
cal precepts by the bulk of mankind, existence would be safe and tolera- 
ble on such terms of submission, abnegation and meekness. The unre- 
sisting martyr would probably, without a special interposition of Provi- 
dence, be soon torn to pieces by the wild beasts to which he would be de 
livered. 

" You are entering into life on the military stage, " v/rites the hero, 
" and although we are now blessed vnih peace, it is doubtful from the 
" collecting cloud in Europe, how long we may enjoy that blessing. It 
" is in the scenes of military life that you can judge properly of men. I 
" cannot recommend to you a better book than the history of Sir William 
" Wallace for your guide, and the example of the immortal Washing- 
" ton. " 

At the time when General Jackson was writing these generons recom- 
mendations to the youth for whom he had an almost parental affection, 
half of the papers of this Union were accusing the American Wallace 
who had crushed the English at New Orleans, and who was such an en- 
thusiastic admirer of Washington, of being a blood-thirsty villain who 
had perpetrated the most shameful deeds, and whose t^a-annical career of 
enormities would, if not checked, luxuriantly expand into a wider range. 

''In the history of Wallace," continues he, "you will find human 
" nature fully displayed, with all its envy, hatred and treachery. Adopt 
" his virtues, and shun the vices of his enemies; for let me assure you, 
" men are not now better than they were in the days of Wallace, and by 
" studying human nature you may come to avoid its treachery. " Jack- 
son had, it is evident, too much judgment to indulge in foolish dreams on 
the newly dkcoxeved j^cr/ecfiOi/if^ of the human race, and to cant about 
the immaculate virtues which are said to be the necessary result of our 
boasted progress in civilization. Although the best of democrats, and 
notwithstanding the blasphemous doctrine now preached by the flattir- 
ers of the many-headed sovereign "that the voice of the people is iliQ 
voice of God," he could not delude himself with the sweet bciicf, nor 
press it upon his young friend, that ''men are at this time much better 
" than in the days of Wallace. " 

"Be not too suspicious," adds the sage, "but never take a man to 
" your bosom as confidant, until you are certain he merits it. Pursue 
" this course, and you will be able to avoid many disagreeable occurrences, 



[6] 

" and it never will be in the power of the base betrayer to injure you. 
" These remarks have occurred to me to be proper to make to you, being 
'' advised by your letter that you will be in the city* for six months. " 
All must acknowledge that this dauntless man of the sword, notwith- 
standing the foolhardy temerity with which he was reproached through 
prejudice or misconception, expresses here such sentiments as the cau- 
tious pen of the meditative and phlegmatic Benjamin Franklin himself 
would not have hesitated to lay down as prudential rules of conduct in 
all the departments of life. 

In the same letter, he says : "I have declined the mission to Mexico. 
" I could be of no benefit to my country there, and in the present state 
" of revolution, a minister frojii the United States to present credentials 
" to the tyrant Iturbide, might strengthen him on his tottering throne, and 
" aid him in riveting the chains of despotism upon the Mexican people. 
" I can never do an act to aid tyranny and oppression, — I have therefore 
'' declined. " 

I forget now what were the reasons then assigned by the world for 
General Jackson's refusal to go to Mexico. It was no doubt attributed 
by his enemies to a selfish and cautious policy which aimed only at per- 
sonal aggrandi:.ement. I have neither the leisure, nor the means at hand, 
to gratify my curiosity and that of the reader by consulting the records 
of the time, but of this I am certain — that the reasons he sets down in a 
familiar letter, which was not intended for the public eye, and which was 
addressed to one whom he could have no object in deceiving by any 
hypocritical asseverations, are worthy of the noblest epochs of Roman 
virtue and Roman republicanism. In these degenerate days, when prin- 
ciple, honesty ;'nd talent are sacrificed to availahlliti/, expediency and 
ignorance, and in that state of political corruption and epidemical thirst 
and hunger after ofiice into which we seem to have rushed, as soon as we 
were sure to have sealed forever the tombstone of the Bayard of Democ- 
racy and escaped from the risk of blushing for shame in his presence, it 
may well be doubted whether any of those demagogues who are afraid of 
losing their popularity at home by complying with such regulations of 
dress as it pleases a monarch to establish in his palace, would refuse to 
accept the salary of a minister plenipotentiary to an Emperor, from the 
fear of " strengthen ukj the ti/rant on his throne, and of aiding in riveting 
" the chains of despotism" upon any people in Christendom. 



* The city of 'Wasbingtoii, wliere, iu fact, too many precautions of the kind 
cannot be taken. 



tn 

"If it is true," continues he, "that Spain is about to cede Cuba to 
" England, good policy points to the course the United States ought to 
" adopt. There cannot be an American who does not see that if Great 
" Britain obtains the Gibraltar of the Gulf, as she holds the Gibraltar 
" of the 3Iediterranean, she controls the commerce of the world, and 
" embargoes the mouth of the Mississippi. The wisdom and energy of 
" America must prevent this, or we are involved in a perpetual war, until 
" Great Britain is dispossessed of it. " There never was a man who, 
from instinct as it were, had a clearer view of the wants and interests of 
his country than General Jackson, and the people of the United States 
are every day becoming more convinced of the truth of what he asserted 
in 1823 — that Cuba is "the Gibraltar of the Gulf, " and can "embargo 
the mouth of the Mississsppi. " Thus, all the statesmen of the Union, 
forgetting their sectional prejudices, have agreed, I believe, on the 
course to be pursued, should the emergency alluded to by General Jack- 
son ever arise. 

On the 1st of May, 1823, he traced the following lines, which should 
be printed in letters of gold and hung up in the office of every public 
officer, if it were possible that any good could flow from it : 

" I am much pleased to find that you have acquired such a correct 
" opinion of human nature. In your passage through life, it will be of 
" great advantage to you, and preserve you from many difficulties that 
" without this knowledge, youths are apt to fall into. It is to be de- 
" plored that men in office are apt to assume an air of mystery in dis- 
" charge of their public duties. In our government mystery does not 
" belong to it; an open, candid, virtuous course ought to be pursued by 
" all its functionaries, — orders given in clear and positive Lmguage, easily 
" to be understood, and words incapable of double meaning, and in all 
" answers to necesssary inquiries, positive and candid. I never have 
" seen an occasion where candor and truth was not proper. A case in 
" our government cannot exist where it ought not to be used ; if it is 
" proper to speak at all, it should be with candor and truth. Adopt this 
" for your guide, let others do as they may, and you will be always right. 
" Occasions may occur where prudence would dictate silence, but if you/^ 
" speak at all, let it be with candor and truth. " This is admirable doc- 
trine, and were it adhered to by those who lead and govern the people, 
by those Richelieus who reign in the name of King Multitude, whom 
they humor and delude with flatteries, genuflexions, and the mere appear- 
ance of the possession of power, whilst they riot in the real enjoyment of 



[8] 

what they deny to their tool, what country ours would be ! But, instead 
of such a millenium of political puritj^, or anything approaching to it, 
what do we see ? If any candidate for office before those ragamuflfins 
who, in most cases, compose the immense majority of those packed con- 
ventions and secret oligarchies who have substituted their will and gov- 
ernment to that of the people, were to preach the doctrine of the great 
apostle of democracy — of him who had as vivid a faith in the correct in- 
stincts of the masses, and as intense a love for the people, as any man that 
ever lived, and to declare that, if in power, he would consider that doc- 
trine binding upon him and all those who might rely on his patronage; (b* 
countenance, who doubts that this disciple of the dead patriot, this advo- 
cate of candor and truth, this inflexible enemy to compromises with what 
goes by the decent and courteous appellative of "the exigencies of the 
moment, " would be laughed at for his antiquated notions and virtuous 
imbecility, and be thrust aside, if not as positively insane, at least as im- 
practicable, unavailable, and antedeluvian ? Ye politicians who, cap in 
hand, stand before the people, to serve whose interests you profess to 
have abandoned your own by renouncing your private pursuits, and for 
whose sake you are ready either to live or die, just as it may please their 
will, remember the oracular words of him in whom the people had so 
much confidence. " You miist, on no occasion, and ■under no pretext, 
^^ divorce from candor or truth: you must use no loords susccjytihle of 
" double meaning " under the penalty of being discarded with contempt 
by the people — that dear object of your sincere love. Ye Presidents, 
Governors, Senators, Representatives, and all others in authority, remem- 
ber that you must, forsooth, " be positive and candid in all your answers 
" to necessary inquiries. " Indeed! Indeed, GcneralJackson ! Were 
these your expectations ? 0, generous credulity of a noble heart I Is 
" an open, candid and virtuous course" to be pursued by our public func- 
tionaries, the sine qua non condition on which they are to hold office ? 
" Is there no case in our government where candor and truth are not to 
" be used " ? Tell it not in Gath— and, above all, tell it not in Wash- 
ington, or beware of an insurrection from the very stones of the Capitol. 
Alas I venerated patriot, rise from thy tomb, and if thou art not afraid of 
polluting thy gray hair, venture into the purlieus of the White House, 
stalk into that Senate formerly graced by thyself, by Clay, Webster, 
Calhoun and such demi-gods ; stoop to enter, if such an effort is within 
thy power, into the House of Representatives ; or rather, ascend the 
highest sununit of the Alleghanies, and survey the broad surface of thy 



[9] 

country — see that ocean of falsehood and corruption which surging up 
slowly but irresistibly, is now convulsed into tempestuous waves by the 
tridents of fanaticism and unholy ambition ; vouchsafe a glance at those 
ignoble halls, those secret marts and fairs for office and preferment, whei-e 
presides King Caucus, or the tyrant Convention ; see who are those they 
select as the worthiest in the laud, and recommend to the suffrages of the 
people; and wilt thou make thyself guilty of the solemn mockery of 
preaching ''morality, candor and sincerity," to such as thesel Would it 
not emphatically be the voice in the wilderness ? No, — at such a sight, 
gathering round thy brows thy well earned laurels, shrouding thyself in 
thy immortal fame, thou wouldst shrink from the task, and if retaining 
aught of the sensibilities of our race, wouldst return to thy place of re- 
pose with a pang of despair at the loss of thy patriotic illusions. 

The reputed stern inflexibility of General Jackson's tempor would 
make it suppose, that he would not be easily induced to adopt i\p- himself, 
or recommend to others, any compromise either in public or private affairs. 
But that such a supposition would not be correct, is demonstrated by the 
following observations made by him in connection with a transaction to 
which he advised his pupil to submit, rather than engage in a law-suit : 

" Without great attention, " said he, ''law is expensive, and success 
" now-a-days cannot be counted on; and before you engage in a suit, iu- 
" vestigate the subject well, and know whether you can give your atteu- 
" tion to^\b.^ For, better to abandon the property altogether than to run 
" the ri^k of bringing a suit and be cast. " Grcneral Jackson had been 
a lawyer and a Judge, and few will deny that, on this occasion, he spoke 
" like a Daniel come to judgment. " 

The intense interest taken by General Jackson in the struggle of op- 
pressed freedom all over the world, is finely illustrated in a passage of a 
letter dated at Washington, on the 20th of January, 1824, and addressed 
to his young friend. It is not a mere empty parade of love for liberal in- 
stitutions, but the warm outpouring of a generous conviction, the unbo- 
soming of heart to heart within the secret precincts of intimacy and con- 
fidential friendship. "It cannot but be gratifying to me, dear E., '' 
writes he, "to see this day (the 8th of January) commemorated by the 
" American people, and particularly for the praiseworthy objectof raising 
" funds to aid the oppressed and gallant Greeks. It must be gratifying 
" to every bosom that cherishes as it ought warm feelings for the liberty of 
" mankind, and a just abhorrence of the cruelties that have been inflicted 
" on the oppressed Greeks and the patriots of Spain. It will have an- 
" other good effect. It will keep in the recollection of this nation what 



[10] 

" gallant men can do when united, and act as a stimulant to others to 
" brave deeda, should our country again be invaded by a fnreign enemy. " 
A sure criterion to judge of a man's heart, is the degree of sincere ad- 
miration which he feels for those great and virtuous beings who have en- 
deared themselves to the whole human race, and whose memories are em- 
balmed in those immortal sepulchres prepared for them b}' history, 
where they repose in state, exposed to the fond gaze of successive gene- 
rations. On the day he dated the letter from which is the preceding 
fiuotation, he had been presented with pistols which had been given by 
Lafayette to Washington. He thus expresses what he felt on the occa- 
sion : 

" I view it as the highest honor that could be paid to me, to be 
" considered worthy by the representatives of that immortal man, the 
" Father of his Country, to be a fit repository for the implements used 
" by him in the procurement and establishment of our national indepcn- 
" dence and liberty. It is moi'e gratifying to my feelings than all the 
" honors my country has hitherto bestowed upon me. " 

There has been an impression but too widely spread throughout the 
country, that OeueralJackson was a profane man, whose christian faith, 
if he ever had any, only budded forth when he was verging towards the 
grave. Those who may have d-jue him so much injustice by forming so 
wrongful an opinion of his character, will be happy to be undeceived by 
reading a letter of condolence which, so late back as the 12th of Decem- 
ber, 1824, he wrote from Washington City. Was he not a christian, 
the stern warrior who penned these touching and pious lines, with which 
he attempted to soothe the afflictions of one he loved ? 

"My dear E. — Your letter of the 7tli inst has come to hand, announ- 
" cing the death of my young friend ai; i your much lamented brother. 
" Mrs. Jackson and myself tender to yo s v;hat we sensibly feel — our sin- 
" cere condolence on this melanchuly occ.ision. When death comes, he 
" respects neither age nor merit; — he sv.eeps fi'om this earthly existence 
" the sick and the strong, the rich and the poor, and should teach us to 
" live to be prepared for death. Our d(ceased friend was a youth of 
" great promise, snatched from us at an interesting period of life, and 
" when we least expected it, thereby showing us the great uncertainty of 
" all earthly things ; — but we have a hope that he is removed from all the 
" troubles of this world to a blissful state of immortality in the next; 
" and wc are taught by the scripture "to mourn not for the dead, but for 
" the living. " lie is gone — our tears cannot restore him; and Ictus 
" be consoled in the hope that he is at rest and happy in the arms of 
" our crucified Saviour. Another consolation may be derived from the 
" letter you have enclosed me, stating that whatever could be done dur- 
" ing his illness for his relief and preservation was cheerfully extended. 



[11] 

" Be therefore consoled — you have many sincere friends, and some dear 
" relatives; and although you have experienced the loss of many, still 
" your misfortunes are not greater than those which befall others. You 
'' should remember, too, that to be reconciled with our lot is a duty we owe 
" not less to ourselves than to that God to whose providence we are all 
" committed. Against His will it is vain^'to repine, however trying the 
" affliction, or great the burden; while a calm submission to that will 
" makes human fortitude triumph over the grave, and conducts us to 
" those happy regions in which we love to believe our young friend im- 
'' mortal, at the same time we are aided in preparation to overtake him 
" there." 

Whenever in this correspondence he glances at public affairs, he shows 
that manliness, that unwavering love of justice, that keen appreciation 
of men and things, which distinguished him in his military and civil ca- 
reer. 

The extract which I give below, from a letter written at the Hermit- 
age, and bearing date July 25, 1825, will not, I believe, be read without 
interest, and will support my premises. 

" Dear E. — From your letter presume your Southern tour has afforded 
" you some amusement and mu h information. The scenes in Greorgia 
" give you a view of human natire under the influence of party excite- 
" ment and selfish political views. The world had formed an exalted 
" opinion of Governor Troup's talents, but I believe his late com- 
" munications have shorn him of his character of high talents in public 
" estimation and of decorous deportment. His whole conduct of late has 
" afforded evidence of derangement from some cause. He certainly 
" never could have obtained the high standing for talents he had, with- 
" out possessing some merit, which his late communications appear to be 
" entirely destitute of. Nobody did believe that the Indians had any 
" intention of commencing hostilities on the whites. The whole excite- 
'' ment was produced by designing white men, to draw the public attention 
" from the means used in obtaining this fictitious treaty, signed by one 
'■' or two Chiefs, and the rest self-created for the purpose of multiplying 
" signers to the instrument. I am s'ure that, with the evidence now 
" before the nation, the Senate would not have ratified the treaty. 
" What will be the course that will be taken, will much depend on the in- 
" formation communicated to Congress by the President, procured 
" through his special agent, sent to the nation for the purpose of invest- 
" tigation. When it Avas ratified, I was not in the Senate, being confined 
" to my room by the severe indisposition of I\lrs. Jackson. Had I been 
" present, seeing none of the old chiefs' names to it but Mcintosh, I should 
/' have moved its postponement and called for information from the 
" President." 

In another communication of the 10th November, of the same year, 
he resumes the subject : 



[12] 

^' I regret tliat my friend, General Gaines, permitted himself to 
'* be drawn into a political newspaper controversy with Governor 
'' Troup. However justifiable his conduct may be in this affair, 
" still it will afford Troup's friends in Congress a strong ground to 
" assail the general as a military man — and it is to be tested how far the 
" Executive will sustain him, should his own popularity be in the least 
" endangered thereby." He then expresses the hope that the Executive 
will stand by General Gaines; but he remarks : '' He (General Gaines,) 
*' and myself have had sufficient experience to know, unless shielded by 
'' positive instructions, that the Executive will shield itself from 
" responsibility if it can. and throw it upon its subordinate. I hope my 
" fears for the General may be groundless : still I cannot but feel for the 
" safety of my friend, when I see the avenue through which he may be 
*' assailed and his feelings corroded by Congress. 

I need not point out here as a trait of character, the amiable solicitude 
of General Jackson for his friend and companion in arms, because the 
tenacity and ardor of his friendship has always been proverbial. For 
this rare quality the world has already given him full credit. 

On the 8th of Decembci-, reverting to the same theme, in which he 
seemed to take so deep an interest, he said : — ' 

"I am happy to be informed, that the President has refused to listen 
" to the demand of the Governor of Georgia for the arrest of General 
" Gaines, and I hope the treaty with the Indians, for all the lauds with- 
" in the limits of G eorgia, will put to rest this disagreeable subject — the 
'' discussion of which would have involved some of the most delicate 
" questions that could be brought before Congress, and is well calculated 
'' to disturb the harmony of our country, as well as the feelings of our 
" friend General Gaines, who would, no doubt, have been assailed by his 
" enemies in Congress. State rights and military despotism are themes 
" where eloquence can be employed, and the feelings of the nation 
'* aroused. I fondly hope that, in consequence of the treaty you 
" mention, both these themes will slumber for some other occasion." 

The belief entertained by some, that General Jackson was so self- 
willed and so wedded to his own arbitrary opinions, that he was at all 
times regardless of the views entertained by others, and that he 
obstinately pursued his own headlong course without caring for 
approbation or blame, is discountenanced by the following passage of a 
letter to a mere youth, his pupil, to whose judgment, however valuable in 
itself, he might have been pardoned for not attaching much importance, 
if we consider his superiority in age, experience and station in life. 

Here is however his language in 1825 : 

"I am happy to find that you approve of my retiring from political 
'' life. 3Iy judgment said it was proper to do so. I have always 
" thought it wrong to recommend maxims to others that I did not 



[13] 

" practice on myself. I am getting too old to abandon a course I have 
" practiced upon through a long life. My judgment approved and 
" dictated the course I have taken. It is a great pleasure to me that it 
" is approved by the virtuous and good. I feel regardless of what my 
" political enemies may say on the subject. They would rejoice if I was 
" to do an act injurious to those republican maxims I have always 
" advocated." 

On the 24th of January, 1826, he wrote: 

"There never ought to be confidence reposed in political men who 
" are in pursuit of popularity, particularly when they have given 
" evidence of abandonment of principle, and bartered for self-aggrandize- 
" ment." 

Thus felt the Roman like patriot, thus spoke the sage of the 
Hermitage. Let the people, let leaders of parties, let, above all, those 
democrats who pretend to be the only disciples dyed in the wool, whom 
General Jackson would recognize if alive, listen to the oracular sentence 
of him whom they affect to worship. Let those who have eyes see, 
and those who have ears hear. O !?cribcs and Pharisees, what says the 
master. 

"There never ought to be confidence reposed in political men who are 
" in pursuit o/pojmlarif//, particularly when they have given evidence 
" of abandonment of principle andb;aLered for self-aggrandizement." 

But what is the doctrine of modern daj's, as inaugurated by leaders, 
who frequently invoke the name of that great and pure man, in support 
of their demao-ooism? 

"No confidence," they say, "is to be reposed in political men who 
'^ are not in pursuit of popular if i/, because such men are too proud and 
" too aristocratic, and disdain to court the favor of the people." 

This is what they avow openly, and secretly they whisper among 
themselves : 

" We must support for office noman, who would not ahandon princip)l€, 
" should the occasion require it, and who wou/d not barter to secure 
" success, because he is too stiff-necked to be available, and because we 
" could not mould him to our own uses and purposes." 

Such is, at least, their rule of action, if not exactly their language, 
and the few exceptions which may occur do but prove the generality of 
that rule. Let those political sectarians preach their new tenets as they 
please, but let them not deny that they secede from the creed professed 
by the great apostle of democracy. 

At an epoch when an insatiable thirst for gold incessantly goads men 
to invent thp post ingenious means to obtain it, per fas et nefas, it is 



[ 1-i] 

refreshing to sec the high-toned disinterestedness and exquisite delicacy 
exhibited in money matters, by one who not only was not rich, but 
whose pecuniary means were frequently .stinted. It seems that the 
young man whose estate General Jackson had administered, on taking 
possession of it when of age, and on examining the accounts thereto 
appertaining, had not found the customary charge which administrators 
bring in for their services, and had expostulated with General Jackson 
for the omission. The answer is worthy of the hero whose name we 
venerate, and bears date May 28, 1826 : 

'' I have no charge," he says, ''again.st your estate; I never charged 
" an orphan one cent for either time or expense, and I am sure I will 
'' not begin with you." 

It has been set down, if not doctrinally, at least practically, that he 
who should refuse to electioneer, and to stoop to all the usual arts which 
are resorted to by aspirants to political distinction, cannot be safelj^ taken 
up by any party as a candidate for any office whatever, because that 
individual, however pure might be his moral character, hov/evcr great 
might be his talents, would be sure to be reproached with being an aris- 
tocrat — a man too proud to curry favor with the people by shaking hands 
with the multitude — which reproach, if not contradicted by great sacri- 
fices of personal dignity accomplished in an ubiquitous "electioneering 
tour," would be sufficient to ensure his defeat. "Whether General Jack- 
sou approved of such a doctrine, or of such a practice, will be shown in 

the two following extracts : 

"Hermitage, June 22, 1826. 

" I cannot say wli ether it will be in my power, with Mrs. Jackson, to 
" visit the Ilarrodsburgh Springs. I have great hesitancy in going into 
" Kentucky now. There is much excitement there at present on their 
" local policy, and my enemies might not only say that I went there to 
" influence their clection.s, but that I was on an electioneering tour. 
" These considerations have hitherto prevented me from visiting the 
" Springs in Kentucky and in the North, and Avill prevent me, so long 
" as my name is before the nation for public office. Let others do as 
" they may, for myself, if brought into office, it nuist be by the uninflu- 
" enced voice of the people. It must be on the pure principle of our 
" government — that the people have a right to govern." 

To that letter he adds a postscript in which, addressing the wife of 
his young friend, he says : 

"I need not express to you how much gratification it would afford 
" Mrs. Jackson and myself to visit you and Edward (her husband) at 
" Cincinnati, or to meet you at the Springs in Kentucky; but the politi- 
" cal ferment now raging in Kentucky in relation to their State politics, 



[15] 

" forbids my entering that State until it subsides. Indeed, as long as 
" my name is before the nation, there would be a great delicacy iu my 
" traveling beyond the limits of my State. My eucjuies would say it 
" was an electioneering tour. If I go into office, it must be by the free 
" will of the people. To keep clear of imputations confines me at 
" home." 

These are noble sentiments. But what an old, impracticable fogy, 
(xcneral Jackson would now be repvited to be with such superannuated 
notions ! And what convention, were it entirely composed of those who 
swear by his venerated memory, would, iu these days of wire pulling and 
political legerdemain, take up for any office a man who should declare 
that he is opposed to an "electioneering tour," or to those means by which 
the people are captivated or deluded, and not left to their '4ree will." 

As a proof of the religious vein which pervades the whole sti-atum of 
General Jackson's character, and which I wish firmly to establish, as it is 
perhaps that part of it which may be the most contested in consequence 
of long standing prejudices and misconceptions, I quote the follov/ing 
passage from a letter written on the 22d of December, 182G : 

"We, (Mrs. Jackson and myself) with pious hearts and great good 
" feeling, present our blessings to the child, etc., etc. As this son 
"advances in years, may his intellect and virtue / strengthen with his 
" strength, and expand until he becomes the admiration of his day, and 
" the comfort and stay of his parents in their declining years." 

Again the same piety shows itself, Avhen on the lOih of September, 
1828, he pens these lines from the Hermitage : 

"We have a very doleful prospect here; we have not had rain to wet 
" the earth one inch for three months — every vegetable burnt up — our 
" cattle starving — the springs in many places dried up and no prospect of 
" rain — the earth so parched that we can sow no fall crop — no turnips, 
" potatoes or cabbages — and our crops of cotton and corn not half crop. 
"' Still I trust in a kind providence who doeth all things well, that He 
" will not scourge us with famine." 

As a contrast to the degrading contradiction which we daily discover 
between the public and private sentiments of our modern politicians, it is 
delightful to observe the inflexible consistency preserved by General 
Jackson, from the beginning to the end of his career. What he avowed 
before the people, he never ceased strenuously to advocate in the confi- 
dential communications of his closest intimacy. He was a massive block 
of granite, hewn in its complete and uniform entity from the same quarry, 
and presenting on all sides the same hard substance to the touch of ex- 
amination. 



t 16 ] 

''i am too feeble/' he wrote in 182S, "to respond to that part of your 
" letter that treats of our political matters. I can only say that the view 
" you have taken of the Constitution and the powers of Congress to create 
" corporations, are in my opinion correct. Congress has no power to 
" create corponrtions, or banks of paper issues, or to carry on internal 
" improvements within the States, nor have the States the 
" constitutional right to create banks of paper issues. The right to coin 
" money and to regulate the value thereof is given to Congress, and the 
'' States are prohibited from coining money, issuing bills of credit, or 
" making anything a tender in the payment of debts, but gold and 
" silver coin. But now the battle is to be fought between the 
" aristocracy of the few against the democracy of numbers, kc, &c. 
" The (juestiou is, whether the people are to continue the sovereign 
" power in their own hands and our republican system be perpetuated, 
" or whether we shall be governed by the combined money power of 
" the aristocracy, through their paper banking system; and all who wish 
" to hand down to their children that happy republican system bcijueathed 
" to them by their revolutionary fathers, must now take their stand 
" against this consolidated, corrupting money power, and put it down, 
" or their children will become hewers of wood and drawers of water to 
" this aristocratic ragocracy, through the corrupting power of the mod- 
" ern banking swindling system. Every lover of freedom and of our 
" republican system must now put on his armor, and boldly meet this 
'< daring and insidious foe. 

" The sub-treasury system, as it is called, must be carried into effect, 
" or you will never have any purity of Legislation, either in the General, 
" or State governments. It will be carried by the people. Pennsylvania 
" will be at her post, and continue to merit the title of the " Keystone" 
" to the political arch. I have no fear of New York, or Ohio, th(mgh. 
" the money power will be wielded in corrupting the people as far as it 
*' can be wielded." 

Were General Jackson in existence, he would see that the principal 
danger to the continuation of our republican system does not proceed 
from " the power wielded by the banks of the country," but from the 
corruption of the ballot box, by an influence coming from other sources 
than the vaults of our paper mints. He would «ee that those corporations 
to which has been given ''the right to coin money and to regulate the 
value thereof," dangerous as they may be, are far less to be suspected 
and to be watched, than those self-emanated, card-like packed corpora- 
tions, called " Conventions," which " coin candidates for office, and regu- 
late the value thereof." He would see that in the year of our l^ord, 
1856, << the battle is to be fought on a far different ground than in 
1828; " he would see that many of those whom he thought to bo his best 
tried veterans, his most faithful lieutenants, have deserted their old banners 



[17] 

on this most convenient of all pleas : " that the exigencies of the times 
having changed, we also must change." He would sec that there is a 
certain "ragocracy," or rahblecracy, rioting in the creation of all sorts 
of 'is7ns, which is f;ir more neftirious than the "corrupting power of the 
modern banking swindling system." He would see that the system of 
obtaining nominations through packed and bought up conventions, and 
of governing the people through an oligarchy of bankrupt politicians, 
who, instead of governing, ought to be pilloried by the people, is fast 
undermining the institutions founded by our ancestors, and even com- 
pletely altering their very nature ; and he would, to use his own lan- 
guage, " call on every lover of freedom and of our republican system to 
put on his armor, and boldly meet this daring and insidious foe." How 
his call — how the shout of Achilles — would be received by the Glreeks 
of the democratic army under its present organization, or by their oppo- 
nents, may reasonably be a matter of doubt, when wc survey the opera- 
tion's of recent campaigns. But whatever were the delusions or illusions 
of General Jackson, they were always those of a generous nature. 

Fortunately, his religious faith was founded on a surer basis than his 
political one, and not so pregnant with disappointments ; and if, on read- 
ing his letters, it is impossible not to to smile, though it be in sadness, at 
the reliance which he placed in some earthly things, it is no slight grati- 
fication to find how firmly he trusted in Him who deceiveth not, as 
exhibited in this touching and pious effusion which gushed out of his 
heart on the 18th September, 1828: 

" I have met with a great bereavement. I have lost my fritnd, Col. 
" Earle, who died on the 16th inst., with a few days' sickness. He was 
" my steadfast friend, my traveling companion; he was pure, upright, 
" and an honest man : but a kind providence has removed him from me 
" to a happier clime than this. I will soon follow him, when I hope to 
" meet with him in the realms of bliss, where the wicked cease to trouble 
" and the weary are at rest." 

The same Christian resignation is exhibited in a letter of the 4th of 
October, 1843 : 

"I thank you and your amiable family for the interest you take in my 
" health and life. A kind and benevolent providence has thus far pro- 
" longed my existence here below, regardless of the wishes of my enemies. 
" How much longer it may be His gracious will to prolong my days, 
" God kuoweth. I await patiently His call, always ready to say : ' The 
" Lord's will be done !' " 

And again, on the 20th December, 1844, he says: 

" My own health is not improved. I am suffering under great debili- 



[18] 

" ty and shortness of breath, but submitting to the Lord's will vrith 
" calmness and resignation." 

The evidences of his religious turn of mind, running through a period 
of more than thirty years, are sufficient to show how misrepresented he 
was when lield up to the world as an infidel, or at least as one who had 
but a dim perception of the truths of Christianity. This error originated, 
no doubt, from his never having put on that sanctimonious garb which 
is thought by many to be the necessary indication of faith. Satisfied 
with being a Christian at heart, he never paused to consider what 
demonstrations policy required him to make in the temple or in other 
public places, in order to acquire a reputation for piety. But, whatever 
may have been the causes of the injustice done him in that respect, I 
rejoice to hkve had the opportunity of proving that the imputations laid 
at his door in relation to his want of religion, were founded in error and 
prejudice. 

I shall conclude this essay by showing, that General Jackson's remark- 
able sagacity did not forsake him, even when old age and infirmities were 
fast hurrying him to the grave. 

On the 17th of August, 1842, he wrote : 

'■'■ I have just learned that Captain ''^yler has headed Captain Botts 
" and the protecting tariffites, by vetoin ■ the Tariff Bill and its append- 
" age, the distribution of the revenue fr m the sales of Public Land.s. 
" This puts to rest all the wicked proceedings of the extra Session of 
" Congress, except the Bankrupt Law, wliich, in its details, throws wide 
" open the door of corruption, perjury und fraud. This, too, will be 
" repealed next Session of Congress." 

We ail know how prophetic these words proved to be. 
In connection with the present issues, there is a remarkable passage 
in a letter which he wrote on the 9th of February, 1844 : 

'■'■ I rejoice to find Louisiana once more under the flag of true democracy. 
" I trust she will amend her Constitution so as to extend the right of suf- 
" frage to all freemen of twenty-one years old and upwards, with certain 
" residence in the State and Parish where they ni;iy vote. This done, tlic 
'' mo7iied aristocracy of New Orleans, with foreign influence, can never 
" ai/aiii cruah the democracy, as she has for many years past. Princi- 
" pies will hereafter triumph over the money power in Louisiana, and 
" you will become a happy and independent people, clear of either pub- 
" lie or private indebtedness; and the people only taxed for an economi- 
" cal government." 

Whether General Jackson's dreams of Arcadian felicity under 
the benign and genial influence of general suffrage now spread over 



[19] 

the fertile bosom of Louisiana have been realized; -whether her 
citizens are ''free from either public or private indebtedness j " and 
whether they, and principally the inhabitants of New Orleans, "are 
taxed only for an economical government," are left to to the considera- 
tion of future constitution-mongers, and to the worshipers of Utopian 
theories. But, one thing may be recommended to the immediate atten- 
tion of those politicians who think, that any doubt expressed in relation 
to the genuine nature and purity of what they are pleased to name 
democracy, cannot come from the lips of a lover of the people, and is 
tantamount to treason. It is, that General Jackson uses these expres- 
sions : ''true democracy," thereby evidently granting tliat there is 
something like "untrue democracy." Let it also be remarked that so 
far back as 1844, his keen eye had detected, and his excellent judgment 
had denounced, the existence in our bosom of a foreign influence, be it 
monied or political, which was used as an instrument to crush, and which 
had effectually crushed democracy. 

But the democracy of Louisiana, in 1856, denies that there ever was, 
and that there is among us, a foreign influence capable of crushing any- 
thing. "Whether that democracy is a "true democracy" according to 
Gi-eneral Jackson's conceptions; Avliether it acts, on all occasions, in con- 
formity with those correct principles and noble sentiments laid down iu 
those letters from which I have made the above extracts; wliether Gen- 
eral Jackson was in his dotage when he asserted that there was among 
us a "crushing foreign influeii !e; " and whether the democratic party 
in Louisiana, constituted as i is, and with llie peculiar antecedents 
attributed to it, speaks an honest truth, when it affirms that foreign 
influence is a fiction, are questions which we leave aside as requiring an 
investigation not compatible with the limits assigned to this essay. 

I said on its threshold, that its object was only to give a profile view, 
and not a complete portrait of General Jackson. All his features and 
his full length proportions cannot be embraced in the frame within 
which I am compelled to confine this crayon sketch. I v,'ill only 
observe, before I dismiss the subject which I have so imperfectly treated, 
that what seems to me to constitute the grand distinguishing traits of 
General Jackson's character, was his unlimited confidence in the good 
sense and safe instincts of the people; his indomitable energy in the 
field and in the cabinet; and his thorough honesty of purpose, which 
was proof against all temptation, and which never permitted him to 
hesitate or to halt iu his march. General Jackson's intellect was of a 



'- [ 20 ] 

sound texture. It was compact and strong-; it was gifted with c^uick 
perception and decision, witli superior discrimination and judgment; 
but there was in it neither amplitude nor brilliancy. It was irresistible, 
like the club of Hercules within arm's length, but it would not have 
flashed througli the air, between heaven and earth, like Apollo's dart, 
and struck its aim on the very verge of the horizon. The grasp of his 
mind, as far as it could reach, was sure and overpowering; but that 
mind, improved only by a very limited education, had been left chiefly 
to its iiatural resources, and cannot be supposed, in consequence of this 
untoward circumstance, to have obtained that degree of development of 
which it was capable. Therefore, exalted as his place is in the history 
of his country, it is not to be wondered at, if he is not put, iutellectu- 
ally, on the same level with some of his illustrious contemporaries and 
rivals. But in other respects, he towered far above the host among 
which he struggled during his long career. For instance, he had pre- 
eminently that kind of courage which, in the opinion of Napoleon tlie 
G-reat, is the most rare of all — that courage which consists in calmly 
taking a determination in the solitude of the closet, and in steadfastly 
adhering to it, bo the consequences what they may. His belief in the 
moral and intellectual rectitude of the people, and in their capacity for 
self-government, was as intense as that of the most devout worshiper in 
the object of his adoration. It was with him a sort of religion. Thus 
his love of' popular government was the ruling passion of his life, — 
"strong even in death;" and his conviction of its being the best for all 
mankind, and the one destined to be ultimately the most durable, was so 
deeply inlaid in him that it had become, as it were, a component part of 
his nature. His integrity was so pure, liis patriotism was so vivid, that 
they dift'used a sort of illumination through his mind, and supplied in 
him the pladfc of geuius. To those two sources he is indebted for his 
best inspiration.';, and for the grandeur of his career. They threw 
around him |i ^■isible halo, which struck the people with admiration and 
awe, and vv-hich inspired them witli implicit faith in him whom they had 
nicknamed "Old Hickory," as expressive of the rugged and solid sub- 
stance of which they thought he was made up. It invested him with 
all the powers of a dictator, and he repaid the unbounded confidence of 
the many-headed sovereign with absolute feality and devotion. But he 
never courted popularity. Before resolving, or acting, he never bent his 
ear to the ground to listen to its pulsations, or to that low rumbling 
which, running over its surface, indicates to time-serving and cunning 



[ 21 ] 

politicians which way is the march of the people, and enables them to 
turn in that direction, and place themselves, if possible, at the head of 
the moving mass. But, erect and lofty, he looked forward to discover 
the landmarks and beacons of right and truth, and towards them he 
strode fearlessly, without previously ascertaining the nunibcr of his fol- 
lowers. Whatever were the errors of which he was susceptible, it was 
impossible, morally and intellectually organized as we kiKjw him to have 
been, that he should ever have stooped to deception, trickery and flat- 
tery. His indignation was always fiercely excited by the bare shadow 
of meanness and treachery. That candor and ti'uth which he so 
earnestly recommended in his letters, he observed and practiced himself 
If we can easily imagine emergencies when General Jackson might have 
remained silent from policy, still it is impossible for one who has the 
slightest insight into his character, even to suppose that his stern and 
inflexible honesty could ever have been brought to compromise with 
truth — the more so that what was the organic disposition of his temper 
had been strengthened by an influence, which so very few knew tu exist 
in him. I mean his sincere Christian faith, and his reliance on the 
incessant interference or interposition of that power to which he so fre_ 
quently alludes in his letters, and which, even in his sorest trials and 
afllictions, he calls "a kind and benevolent providence." 

But I have done. As a member of the Committee appointed by the 
Legislature of Louisiana to superintend the erection of a suitable monu- 
ment to General Jackson in one of the public squares of New (Orleans, 
I have cheerfully discharged the duties imposed on me, and I have the 
satisfaction to see the equestrian statue of the Hero proudly standins- on 
the very spot where he had marshaled the patriotic band of citizen-sol- 
diers, who, under his guidance, triumphed over the veterans of England. 
Thus has nobly been exhibited the gratitude of the State which owed so 
much to his prowess. The present task is an humbler one; but it has 
been a labor of love — a tribute from the lieart. The colossal monument 
of granite and brass was erected to the great and successful captain. 
This modest copper medallion is dedicated to the memory of the 
Christian, the kind, truthful, honest and benevolent man. 

CHARLES GAYARBE. 
Saratoga, Sejifcmher 15, 1856. 



♦'<.., 



LE N '10 



